Consider this unsettling statement from the Federal Trade Commission's website: "People are getting more robocalls than ever. Technology is the reason: Companies are using auto-dialers that can send out thousands of phone calls every minute for an incredibly low cost."

If you're thinking seriously about filing a lawsuit, keep in mind that it will cost you. Oregon's circuit courts charge $53 to file a small claims complaint seeking $2,500 or less, or $158 for civil suits seeking $10,000 or less.

The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act states that robocalls to cellphones and home phones are illegal, but there are some exceptions. Emergency calls -- for example, from the city of Portland's automated emergency alert system -- are allowed. So are robocalls from companies that already had received permission from the phone's owner.

The federal Do Not Call List prohibits phone solicitors from calling home or personal cellphone lines. But the Oregon Department of Justice's website says that Oregon law allows some exceptions, and that includes phone solicitations from debt collectors, public agencies, charities that you've supported in the past and one business calling another.

If you get a robocall, don't press 1 to speak to a live person or any other button to get your phone number off the caller's list because "it will probably just lead to more robocalls," states the Federal Trade Commission's website.